


Come Marching Home

by octopus_defence



Category: Mianite RPF, Minecraft (Video Game), Realm of Mianite - Fandom
Genre: Angst, AtLA AU, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt, I hurt Jordan for almost 1700 words, Memories, My First Fanfic, Nerf House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24806353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopus_defence/pseuds/octopus_defence
Summary: Sonja gets severely hurt in a way that reminds Jordan of his past, revealing secrets he's kept from the group.
Kudos: 32





	Come Marching Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [transvav](https://archiveofourown.org/users/transvav/gifts).



> This is the result of a conversation I had with some peeps on the Nerf House discord. Blame them as much as me.

Jordan is in the zone when he hears it. Sonja’s scream rings out, piercing through the clamour before suddenly cutting out. He quickly glances over and sees her sprawled out on the ground, scorch marks and burns covering her chest. The scene is eerily reminiscent of another time, decades prior, with a different small body on the ground and Jordan’s limbs lock up for a second. He blinks and he’s back in the present with Sonja lying there instead of Jerry. He knows he has to do something and before the thought is even complete in his mind, he is mowing his way through the crowd to get to his side.

He can’t let her die. She’s the Avatar, yes, and that’s important enough, but more than that he can’t let another member of his family die. And that’s what we are, now. A family of powerful idiots he thinks to himself as his body methodically throws everything in his way to the side. He pauses for less than a breath when he reaches her because the similarities are so much more glaring up close, but he forces himself into the pose he had practiced every morning since that day. His hands are just barely shaking, but he forces himself to move quickly so that he doesn’t lose his nerve or repeat the mistake that doomed his brother.

The forms flow naturally, as easy as breathing and he is so focused on the task of healing his friend that he doesn’t see the rest of their rag-tag crew form a circle around him. He doesn’t notice them as they fight back the attacking horde with even more ferocity, as Dec swings his staff with a rarely-seen fury and Tucker and Tom throw earthen projectiles and raise spikes from the ground and Wag brings a tornado down and Karl wields two strings of fire like whips to protect him. After a few minutes, the attackers are all either incapacited or dead and their attention is redirected to Jordan, entranced by his graceful movements.

Jordan, for his part, is screaming inside. It’s not healing, it’s just bloodbending. You are just bending the blood back into and through the veins, bending the heart into starting and the lungs into bleeding. Not healing, just bending the skin back together and the body back into living. It’s not healing, it’s just bending the body into doing its job, it’s not healing, IT’S NOT HEALING. Healing is what killed Jerry. Jordan can’t heal humans, but he can bloodbend Sonja’s body into working again and that's what he’s doing.

He finishes and is suddenly confronted with the weight of what he’d done. He looks down and sees Sonja’s body, still lying there on the ground. It’s breathing but it was so close to not and he was so close to losing another person that looked up to him so much and he had almost failed again-

“Mrrp,” Ianite grumbles as she hops into his arms and starts purring. Jordan begins absentmindedly stroking her fur, perhaps a little more firmly than he intends, as he notices the stares he is receiving from the circle around him.

“Jordan,” Tom starts hesitantly, “I thought you didn’t know how to heal people? What just happened?” The bubble of stillness pops and Jordan freezes, clutching Ianite in his hands like he is drowning in the middle of the ocean and she is a life raft. Dec notices when he starts trembling and quietly takes his hand and leads him off to the side, shushing the questions that everyone is about to ask. Ianite continues purring, growing louder as Dec begins rubbing small circles into Jordan’s back.

The rest of the group wisely decided to put the issue to rest, choosing to focus instead on moving Sonja back to their camp and getting her settled without undoing the delicate healing that Jordan had kick-started. They stay quiet, although Tucker and Tom have an apparently viscous silent argument before Tucker acquiesces and keeps his mouth shut. Wag creates a small pocket of air that helps lighten the load and keep Sonja from getting jostled and they all take care to move her as little as possible. Upon their return, Tom runs off to find healing ointment, Tucker grabs the nearest bunch of clean bandages, and Wag stays with Sonja, talking to her and praying to the gods that he never put much faith in to save her, please, if she dies the Darkness will surely consume you and you need her alive and I need her alive, please. His desperate pleas are drowned out by sobbing, as he bends over his closest friend and the last hope for the world.

Jordan stays there, kneeling next to Dec and clutching Ianite until nightfall. When the moon rises over the treetops he robotically stands up and staggers back to camp, waving off Dec, who offers him a hand. Once he’s back within the make-shift setup, he makes a beeline for his tent and curls up, ignoring the questioning glances and murmurs he receives. Ianite and Dec follow him in, Dec waving off their concerns and going to check on Sonja, who is lying on her bedroll, covered in bandages but nonetheless alive, awake, and in no small way confused. 

“What just happened back there?” she queries, blinking up at Dec, who checks all of the wrappings, before approving and turning his attention to Sonja’s unanswered question. “You caught a fireball that one of the Darkness minions threw with your chest.” Dec chuckles. “If it weren’t for Jordan, you would be a pile of ash right now.” 

Sonja starts to sit up, before Dec pushes her back down. “Speaking of Jordan, where is he? I need to thank him for that.” She looks around for a second more and notices for the first time that they are the only two in the tent. “Where’s everyone else, for that matter? Did we win? Are they still fighting?” As she says that, the tent flap opens, and Wag pokes his head in. 

“Dec? What are you-? Sonja!” He throws himself into the tent and down next to his best friend.

Dec stands up and moves over towards the flap. “I’ll clear out and leave you to answer her questions, okay? Don’t get her too excited and call me if anything happens!” With a wave Dec leaves the tent and makes his way over to Ianite, who is outside Jordan’s tent watching as the others make their ways to bed. Dec nods to her before sitting down, dipping into the spirit world once he is sure no one else is around.

“So what exactly was going on today?” he asks her, tilting his head.

She gives him a look. “You fought and defeated a group of the Darkness’ minions who were laying waste to the area.”

“No, not that. With Jordan and his freak out and apparent healing.” Dec responds, oblivious to the way that Ianite stiffens and gives him a warning look.

“That’s neither of our business,” she says coldly.

Dec barrels onward, unaware of the thin ice he is currently breaking. “I mean, he said he couldn’t heal humans, but he just save Sonja and did a really good job of it as well, the-”

Dec’s connection to the spirit world is suddenly cut as he feels sharp teeth biting into his wrist, attached to a pissed-looking Ianite. As she lets go, he holds his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll let it go.” He walks off to his tent, muttering about overprotective goddesses who act like mothers.

\----------------

The next morning, everyone quickly gets to work packing up the camp so they can continue their journey onwards and get back on the road. Jordan stays away from the rest of the group, hanging back and taking his time gathering his things. The others also give him space, carefully avoiding him and letting him do his own thing. 

The silence lasts until they hit the road, when Tucker walks a bit too close to Tom, bumping into him and starting a lighthearted argument that quickly involves every other member. Jordan manages to stay out of it until Tom enthusiastically calls on him to testify that Tucker was the one at fault.

“Jordan! You were behind both of us, so you clearly saw that Tucker sped up and that he bumped into me.”

“No I did not! Tom slowed down, right?” Tucker shoots back.

By now, everyone’s attention is directed at Jordan, the only person who had a clear view of the lead-up to the accident.

“Uhhh, well I wasn’t really paying attention, but...” Jordan pauses, meeting their eyes before continuing, “I saw Tucker walking a bit faster before the crash, and Tom didn’t look like he was slowing down.”

Tom lets out a crow of laughter, dancing around as Tucker groaned.

The rest of the walk continues in a similar fashion, with Jordan hanging off to the side, but occasionally joining in with the lighthearted shenanigans.

The night starts to fall before Tom blurts out the question that’s been on the tip of his tongue all day. They are all sitting around a campfire that Karl started, laughing, telling stories, and roasting marshmallows when the Dianitee speaks up.

“Bro, what was going on with you yesterday? You said you couldn’t heal, but then you went and fixed Sonja right up! It was crazy, man.” His voice is deceptively casual, but his face is concerned and genuine.

Jordan doesn’t appear to have heard the question, although Tom is right next to him and the other conversations have died off, leaving the fire’s crackling echoing through the woods. His grip on the stick he held tightened, knuckles turning white. A stony mask slides onto his face, unyielding as he continues staring into the flickering firelight.

Ianite suddenly hisses, loud and harsh, fur puffing up as she positioned herself between Tom and Jordan. Dec stands up and rapidly ushers everyone off to the side, leaving an unresponsive Jordan sitting alone, caught up in long gone memories and mourning a long-lost family.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: The title this had in docs was "Jordan is hurt and I am shooting him with foam darts" and is now a lyric from "Leaves on the Vine". It is also the first fanfic I've ever posted!
> 
> Come yell at me on me Tumblr, where I don't do much: octopus-defence-squad


End file.
